DarthRevan
NES Member
Similarities and differences?
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Just took that practice test... 21/35 isn't bad seeing as what I got wrong was mostly about the proper frequencies used.
It seemed CB is mostly used by low-lifes and people who want nothing more than to hear themselves talk (in a fake southern accent). I didn't hear one person that I'd like to chat with.
And the car drivers really used them as a tool. We chatted on the quieter frequencies, but go to ch-19 and just by listening you would know the location of every speed trap and PO sitting or rolling.CB radios exploded in the late 70's. Prior to that it was mostly truckers and people who spent a lot of time driving that had them. For a while it seemed like 50% of the cars had a CB antenna on them. It really was huge business for a while then it just died back out.
You HAM guys might be able to explain this. Yesterday I was on CB channel 22 at a transfer station. Got back on the highway and forgot to switch back to 19. All the sudden this guy comes on saying he's out of the Carolinas. When I finally switched over to 19, I picked up a guy out of Manchester saying he was on "that big 40 ft. antenna". He gave what I assumed was his radio operator code. Do the MHz frequencies these guys use just bleed through to CB?
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Well, you asked for itCB is on the 11m band in the 27MHz range...which is just below the HAM 10m band. Big difference between CB and HAM is that CB is almost always using a vertically polarized antenna. HAMs can do either vertical or horizontal. Horizontal gives you better propagation. At least, this is what I've been told. Not saying you can't get good propagation off of verticals; it just isn't as good as horizontal.
Please correct me if I'm wrong here.
Well, you asked for it
Polarization really doesn't affect propagation, but it can make a giant difference in reception. If your antenna is 90 degrees from the other guy's antenna (vertical vs. horizontal polarization) you lose a lot; like 10-40dB. This is really only matters for VHF/UHF line of sight or ground wave propagation. Bouncing the signal off the ionosphere scrambles the polarization. This is why for the HF bands you'll see vertical antennas and horizontal wire and Yagi antennas. It doesn't matter, or doesn't matter enough to be worth the effort mounting a Yagi vertically or a flag pole horizontally. For VHF/UHF most people use vertical polarization simply because that's the easiest way to mount a stick antenna on your car or roof or on an handheld. And the VHF/UHF Yagi antennas are small enough that it's easy to mount them vertically. I think the people into the challenge of working Dx with VHF mostly use horizontal polarization. I'm guessing the reasons for that are 1) the other antennas on their tower are mounted horizontally, and 2) they will receive less interference from all the repeaters and etc. using vertical polarization.
Does anyone actually have Ham plates? Any privacy issue concerns?
I'm noticing the 2m amateur band sounding more and more like CB every day? Some of the repeaters in MA get so rowdy I get flashbacks to 70's era CB. People using vulgar language, stations not ID'ing themselves so they won't be reported. I know this because the people using the bad language say directly they're not ID'ing so they wont be reported. I've been a ham less than 12yrs and I was on CB the 30 before so I'm familiar with both bands. I bought my first amateur radio in 1995 and listened on and off for a decade before I actually got my license. It was. 2006 before I had the time available to put into the hobby.
The reason I switched to amateur bands was to get away from all the childish behavior on the citizens band. Unfortunately you have to go up to the extra frequencies to get the professionalism of years past. Even there your starting to see behavior devolving into chaos.
AE1Y
Here's an old photo with the CB still in the shack. It's long gone now and the shack looks quite different now. I'll update the photo when I can.
View attachment 180722
I'm noticing the 2m amateur band sounding more and more like CB every day? Some of the repeaters in MA get so rowdy I get flashbacks to 70's era CB. People using vulgar language, stations not ID'ing themselves so they won't be reported. I know this because the people using the bad language say directly they're not ID'ing so they wont be reported. I've been a ham less than 12yrs and I was on CB the 30 before so I'm familiar with both bands. I bought my first amateur radio in 1995 and listened on and off for a decade before I actually got my license. It was. 2006 before I had the time available to put into the hobby.
The reason I switched to amateur bands was to get away from all the childish behavior on the citizens band. Unfortunately you have to go up to the extra frequencies to get the professionalism of years past. Even there your starting to see behavior devolving into chaos.
AE1Y
Here's an old photo with the CB still in the shack. It's long gone now and the shack looks quite different now. I'll update the photo when I can.
View attachment 180722